Parents would like to be able to allow their children to move about safely within approved locations (their own yards, neighborhoods, schools, friend's houses, etc.), while ensuring that they avoid prohibited or dangerous areas, and comply with specified time parameters or other condition (get to school on time, study at the library for at least two hours, be home by 8:00). At the same time, parents find it unduly burdensome to constantly monitor their children's whereabouts and attempt to enforce these behaviors.
In addition to children, people want to be able to track the whereabouts of their pets, and have criteria as to where and when they allow their pets to be outside. For example, a dog may be allowed in the back yard, but the owner would want to know if the dog got out of the yard and was wandering down the street. A cat may be let out, be the owner wants the cat back by dark, and would be interested to know how far from home the cat goes. A hamster or other small rodent may be expected to stay in a cage or similar habitat at all times. People also wish to keep track of inanimate items, such as vehicles and portable computing devices, which are commonly moved about, as well as larger electronics, appliances, jewelry, furniture and other possessions, which are generally expected to remain within a home.
Some computerized tracking systems exist such as LoJack for cars, but these require custom installation of expensive equipment, and rely on cellular communication and a high power source such as a car battery. A specific item such as a given car can be tracked only after an expensive, large, power consuming custom apparatus is installed. Other computerized tracking systems rely on short range Bluetooth communication for transceivers attached to items to communicate with an app on a phone. This can be useful for limited functionality such as finding keys lost in the house, but is not suitable for tracking items outside of a highly localized area or according to advanced conditional criteria.